In a final round that included a dunk that paid homage to both Vince Carter and DeMar DeRozan and one that used a small child as a prop, the 22-year-old Raptors swingman beat defending champion Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz in the six-player competition.

Ross wore Carter’s old-style black-and-purple jersey for his first dunk of the final, taking a pass off the side of the backboard and doing a 360, two-handed slam, a dunk eerily similar to one DeRozan did in one of his dunk contest appearances.

And to win — with 58 per cent of the electronic votes cast — Ross leapt over a ballboy, went between his legs and dunked on his second attempt.

“When I first grabbed him, he was like, ‘You’re not going to hit me, are you?’” joked Ross. “I calmed his nerves and we went out to do it.”

Ross said his agent thought up the possibility of using a human prop and the Carter jersey dunk was just a way to pay tribute to the Raptors’ past.

“I think it’s just paying homage to the guys who did it before me,” said Ross. “DeMar’s helped me a great deal. I just want to take his advice and do something to honour him.”